Beautiful Beginnings

Indeed, all praise and thanks are due to Allaah. We praise Him; seek His help and His forgiveness. We seek protection from Him from the evils of our own souls and from our bad deeds. Whomever Allaah guides, no one can misguide him, and whomever He sends astray, there is no other guide for him. I testify that nothing has any right to be worshipped except Allaah alone, having no partner, and I testify that Muhammad is His servant and Messenger-may the peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him, his family, companions and those who follow them in goodness until the Day of Judgment. To proceed:

Assalaam alaykum wa rahmatullaah wa barakatuuh.

Welcome to the month of Muharram 1438AH, a month that enjoys the honor of being associated with the glorious name of Allaah:

“Verily, the number of months with Allaah is twelve months (in a year), so was it ordained by Allaah on the Day when He created the heavens and the earth; of them four are Sacred (i.e. the 1st, the 7th, the 11th and the 12th months of the Islamic calendar). That is the right religion, so wrong not yourselves therein” [al-Tawbah 9:36]

And a month in which good deeds are enjoined:

“The best of fasts besides the month of Ramadhan is the fasting of Allah’s month of Muharram ………” (Narrated by Muslim, 1163)

It was narrated that Ibn ‘Abbaas (may Allaah be pleased with him) said: I never saw the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) so keen to make sure he fasted any day and preferring it over another except this day, the day of ‘Ashoora’, and this month – meaning Ramadaan. (al-Bukhaari, 1867)

Its been almost 4 years since I last put up a post on this blog. Just about 4 years ago, I got a scholarship to study a 4-year B.A Islamic Studies online and suddenly, blogging became a herculean task ; ). Alhamdulillaah, I’m all but done with the B.A and the start of new month and the start of a new year seemed like the perfect time to start blogging again.

One of the things I came across while I was away was a post on “A Better Way to Divide Recitation of the Qur’ān over a Month” by Ibn Taymiyyaah, may Allāh have mercy on him. He divided the recitation by the chapters rather than by the ajzaas as we commonly do. He describes this schedule as being closer to the way of the Companions (may Allaah be pleased with them all), and hey, who doesn’t want that! So should you find my daily post not inline to the commonly known ajzaas, remember you have been warned.

For this month, I am picking a relatively easy theme, so as to ease myself gently back into blogging and to leave room for completing my degrees. So the theme is the starting verses bi’idhnillaah. So, I will be posting the verse of each daily portion (aka juz)along with the translation of its meaning and the tafseer of some key parts of it from Tafsir Ibn Kathir, bi’idhnillaah. I ask Allaah to make this a good returning, a good start and to grant me a good end too. May HE forgive my shortcomings and excesses too, aameen.

Indeed, all praise and thanks are due to Allaah. We praise Him; seek His help and His forgiveness. We seek protection from Him from the evils of our own souls and from our bad deeds. Whomever Allaah guides, no one can misguide him, and whomever He sends astray, there is no other guide for him. I testify that nothing has any right to be worshipped except Allaah alone, having no partner, and I testify that Muhammad is His servant and Messenger-may the peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him, his family, companions and those who follow them in goodness until the Day of Judgment. To proceed:

Assalaam alaykum wa rahmatullaah wa barakatuuh.

The month of Dhul-Hijjah has come upon us and with it milllions of pilgrims have gathered in the Holy city of Makkah to perform the rites of Hajj, answering the noble call that Prophet Ibrahim (Alayhis-salaam) made ages ago:

Q22:27. And proclaim to mankind the Hajj (pilgrimage). They will come to you on foot and on every lean camel, they will come from every deep and distant (wide) mountain highway (to perform Hajj).

In performing the rites of Hajj, we are constantly aware of the story of Ibrahim (Alayhis-salaam) and his legacies from the building of the Ka’bah, to his prayer at the Maqam Ibrahim, to the sae between Safa and Marwa, to the spring of Zam-zam, to the standing on the Mount of Arafat, to the stoning of the Jamaraat and to its culmination ultimately in the sacrifice on the day of Eid.

We see in him a life filled with different forms of sacrifice: emigration from his homeland of shirk at a young age, spending his youth and vitality in the call to Allaah, giving up his wife and child in a barren land, expending his energy in the building of the Ka’abah and submission to the will of Allaah to sacrifice his son.

This month, I’m looking at all the little and big ways, the obvious and obscure ways, the easy and hard ways in which sacrifice is mentioned and enjoined upon us in the Noble Quran. I hope that at the end of this month we’ll comprehend better that it is truly not the meat that reaches Allaah but its the heart’s submission and profession as the Rasul (peace&blessings of Allaah be upon him) was commanded to say in Suuratul An-‘Aam Verse 162:

Say, Indeed, my prayer, my rites of sacrifice, my living and my dying are for Allah, Lord of the worlds!

PS: Its verses such as Q22:27 above that reminds me of how truly noble and TRUE this deen is and how it spans generations of mankind, and how something that is such an essential part of our deen was actually legislated long before the Rasul (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) was raised as a messenger. Indeed, this deen and worship is truly for Allaah alone and I’m so grateful to have been favored with His guidance.

Indeed, all praise and thanks are due to Allaah. We praise Him; seek His help and His forgiveness. We seek protection from Him from the evils of our own souls and from our bad deeds. Whomever Allaah guides, no one can misguide him, and whomever He sends astray, there is no other guide for him. I testify that nothing has any right to be worshipped except Allaah alone, having no partner, and I testify that Muhammad is His servant and Messenger-may the peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him, his family, companions and those who follow them in goodness until the Day of Judgment. To proceed:

Assalaam alaykum wa rahmatullaah wa barakatuuh.

All praise is due to Allaah who has made us to witness another of the sacred months of this year i.e. Rajab as Allaah exalted is He states in the Noble Quran:

“Verily, the number of months with Allaah is twelve months (in a year), so was it ordained by Allaah on the Day when He created the heavens and the earth; of them four are Sacred (i.e. the 1st, the 7th, the 11th and the 12th months of the Islamic calendar). That is the right religion, so wrong not yourselves therein” [al-Tawbah 9:36]

Here Allaah forbids us from committing sins especially during these months, as He says “wrong not yourselves therein”. Although committing sins is haraam and forbidden during these months and at other times, in these months it is more forbidden. So this month we take a look at that all important virtue that along with Taqwa (God-Consciousness) of Allaah, helps us to not only stay away from sins but to shun doubtful matters and also give up (sacrifice) lawful matters in anticipation of greater Rewards.

Furthermore, as this quote from http://www.islamqa.com nicely puts it “Patience is of more help to the one who has it than men, as it helps without any need for equipment or numbers” and thus it:

leads to victory;

leads to strength;

leads to nobility;

leads to gentility;

leads to forgiveness;

leads to Paradise;

leads to Allaah’s Love.

For Allaah says:

“And Allaah loves As-Saabiroon (the patient)” (Q3:146)!

And what could be nobler and better than being from those whom our Lord loves and is pleased with. I end with the dua of Prophet Taluut (Saul) [for himself and his companions which included Prophet Dawuud (David)]

“Our Lord, pour upon us patience and plant firmly our feet …”

Acknowledgement:

I’ll like to acknowledge and thank Shariifah Yunus for the planting the idea for this month’s theme. May Allaah reward her with good.

Indeed, all praise and thanks are due to Allaah. We praise Him; seek His help and His forgiveness. We seek protection from Him from the evils of our own souls and from our bad deeds. Whomever Allaah guides, no one can misguide him, and whomever He sends astray, there is no other guide for him. I testify that nothing has any right to be worshipped except Allaah alone, having no partner, and I testify that Muhammad is His servant and Messenger-may the peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him, his family, companions and those who follow them in goodness until the Day of Judgment. To proceed:

Assalaam alaykum wa rahmatullaah wa barakatuuh.

This post is titled Profound Parables II but this is not a part two of the previous month’s theme but rather a second attempt at doing justice to the theme. Last two months have been different, filled with activity but gratifying, Alhamdulillaah. Joined an online course and its been hectic re-planning my life around the life sessions and recordings. But I’ve missed my readings of Noble Quran and pouring over Tafsir Ibn Kathir, seeking an insight to the meaning of the words of the Quran. Another reason why I’ve been eager to resume my posts is the saying of the Rasul, may Peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him:

Allah’s Messenger (SAW) said: “The best loved deeds to Allah are the ones that are continuous even if they are not very many.” (Bukhari and Muslim)

So inshaAllaah, I’m back, better (I hope) and hopefully I’ll be conveying some pearls from the courses in my future posts! I pray Allaah grants us beneficial knowledge, forgives our sins, makes us steadfast upon good and makes us of those who turn often to Him in repentance, Aamin.

Indeed, all praise and thanks are due to Allaah. We praise Him; seek His help and His forgiveness. We seek protection from Him from the evils of our own souls and from our bad deeds. Whomever Allaah guides, no one can misguide him, and whomever He sends astray, there is no other guide for him. I testify that nothing has any right to be worshipped except Allaah alone, having no partner, and I testify that Muhammad is His servant and Messenger-may the peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him, his family, companions and those who follow them in goodness until the Day of Judgment. To proceed:

Assalaam alaykum wa rahmatullaah wa barakatuuh.

Often times when we want to explain our ideas or facts to other people, we resort to examples or similitudes. This works because by linking the strange new to the familiar old, it helps people to quickly understand the message we are trying to pass across. This month, I’ll be relating some of the parables (examples) mentioned by Allaah in the Noble Quran. Allaah exalted is He sets forth for us numerous parables in His book which are so profound, so insightful and so apt that they literally blow my mind.

26. Verily, Allah is not ashamed to set forth a parable even of a mosquito or so much more when it is bigger (or less when it is smaller) than it. And as for those who believe, they know that it is the Truth from their Lord, but as for those who disbelieve, they say: “What did Allah intend by this parable?” By it He misleads many, and many He guides thereby. And He misleads thereby only those who are Al-Fasiqun (the rebellious, disobedient to Allah).

So Allah has informed us that there is no matter that is too small that is exempt from being used as an example, even if it was as insignificant as a mosquito or a spider.

Mujahid (a famous commentator of the Qur’an) commented on Allah’s statement, saying “The believers believe in these parables, whether they involve large matters or small, because they know that they are the truth from their Lord, and Allah guides the believers by these parables.” In his Tafsir, As-Suddi reported that Ibn `Abbas said “Allah guides the believers with these parables, and the straying of the hypocrites increases when they reject the parables that Allah mentioned for them which they know are true. This is how Allah misleads them.”

I pray Allaah counts us among those who listen to His parables, reflect over them, believe and then imbibe the message therein, Aamin.

Indeed, all praise and thanks are due to Allaah. We praise Him; seek His help and His forgiveness. We seek protection from Him from the evils of our own souls and from our bad deeds. Whomever Allaah guides, no one can misguide him, and whomever He sends astray, there is no other guide for him. I testify that nothing has any right to be worshipped except Allaah alone, having no partner, and I testify that Muhammad is His servant and Messenger-may the peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him, his family, companions and those who follow them in goodness until the Day of Judgment. To proceed:

Assalaam alaykum wa rahmatullaah wa barakatuuh.

Last month was about hope and joy and mercy and all things good and beautiful. This month, I’m completing the verse I started therein and it doesnt take much to guess that as believers when there is hope, it most also be accompanied by fear in a balanced proportion.

57. Those whom they call upon desire means of access to their Lord (Allah), as to which of them should be the nearest and they hope for His Mercy and fear His Torment. Verily, the Torment of your Lord is something to be afraid of!

Its easy to talk about the good and to bask in its joy but talking about the warnings is much harder as I do not consider myself as being safe from it either because

27. And those who fear the torment of their Lord 28. Verily! The torment of their Lord is that before which none can feel secure.

On a reassuring end-note, I narrate an incident that occurred during the time of the Rasul (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him).

Anas (may Allaah be pleased with him) related that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) entered on a young man who was dying, and said to him: “How are you?” He said: “I hope in Allah and fear my errors!” the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “They (fear and hope) will not be combined in the slave’s heart in this situation, but Allah will give him what he hopes for and will grant him safety from what he fears.” [Sunan At-Tirmidhi]

I pray Allaah grants us all that we hope for and protect us from that which we fear, Aamiin.

Indeed, all praise and thanks are due to Allaah. We praise Him; seek His help and His forgiveness. We seek protection from Him from the evils of our own souls and from our bad deeds. Whomever Allaah guides, no one can misguide him, and whomever He sends astray, there is no other guide for him. I testify that nothing has any right to be worshipped except Allaah alone, having no partner, and I testify that Muhammad is His servant and Messenger-may the peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him, his family, companions and those who follow them in goodness until the Day of Judgment. To proceed:

Assalaam alaykum wa rahmatullaah wa barakatuuh.

Safar (last month) was a struggle, I struggled to remember the islamic date, struggled to catch up on my late start for the monthly recitation, struggled to find a dua in each juz of the Quran and struggled to post something up daily, phew! Alhamdulillaah, its a brand new month, the month of Rabi’ Al-Awwal which literally means the first or beginning of spring so its a new opportunity to improve upon my islamic calendar skills and renew my determination, inshaAllaah.

This month I’m picking a theme that

strengthens the resolve,

lifts the spirits,

chases the blues away,

brightens the day,

comforts the soul,

gladdens the heart

and finally reminds us why being a MUSLIM is SO the right thing to do both in the short and long term inshaAllaah.

This month I’m making a list via my posts of all glad tidings: joy, mercy, health, wealth, children, contentment, forgiveness, name it and ultimately JANNAH and joy of gazing upon Allaah’s face, Noble and exalted is HE. So join me on the discovery of goodies (its going to be like a child let loose in a candy store) hidden in the Quran as Allaah, exalted is HE says:

بَشِّرِ ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوا۟ وَعَمِلُوا۟ ٱلصَّـٰلِحَـٰتِ

25. And give glad tidings to those who believe and do righteous good deeds

إِنَّآ أَرْسَلْنَـٰكَ بِٱلْحَقِّ بَشِيرًا

119. Verily, We have sent you (O Muhammad Peace be upon him ) with the truth (Islam), a bringer of glad tidings….

(to be continued,inshaAllaah)

PS: Congratulations to my “aburo” and avid reader who had a baby boy last month, may Allaah increase both the mother and son upon good!

Indeed, all praise and thanks are due to Allaah. We praise Him; seek His help and His forgiveness. We seek protection from Him from the evils of our own souls and from our bad deeds. Whomever Allaah guides, no one can misguide him, and whomever He sends astray, there is no other guide for him. I testify that nothing has any right to be worshipped except Allaah alone, having no partner, and I testify that Muhammad is His servant and Messenger-may the peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him, his family, companions and those who follow them in goodness until the Day of Judgment. To proceed:

Assalaam alaykum wa rahmatullaah wa barakatuuh.

Alhamdulillaah, I’ve completed the theme on the beautiful names of Allaah and I found it very inspiring and sometimes overwhelming reading about His names, their meanings and manifestations. I hope you found the posts useful too. InshaAllaah, I pray we all go on to learn more of His names. One other lesson I took away from last month’s theme is the importance of the Islamic (lunar) calendar. Given that Allaah, exalted is He, associates it with being part of the right religion [al-Tawbah 9:36], I have decided to change my daily juz recitation to rhyme with it.

For this month’s theme, I thought that what better way would there be to take the knowledge that I have just acquired, than to immediately put it into practice and act upon it. So as Allaah says:

﴿وَللَّهِ الأَسْمَآءُ الْحُسْنَى فَادْعُوهُ بِهَا﴾

And (all) the Most Beautiful Names belong to Allah, so call on Him by them (7:180), and,

And your Lord said: “Invoke Me, I will respond to your (invocation). Verily! Those who scorn My worship [i.e. do not invoke Me, and do not believe in My Oneness] they will surely enter Hell in humiliation!” (40:60)

This Safar, I’ll be seeking out and using the concise yet complete duas that occur in the Holy Quran and which invoke Allaah by one or more of His names. I ask Allaah, exalted is He, to accept our duas, to forgive our sins and gladden our hearts both in this world and in the hereafter.

PS: As we are already a number of days into the month of Safar, I’ll try to catch up on my recitation by reading and posting on two ajzas per day for the next 8 or more days inshaAllaah.

Indeed, all praise and thanks are due to Allaah. We praise Him; seek His help and His forgiveness. We seek protection from Him from the evils of our own souls and from our bad deeds. Whomever Allaah guides, no one can misguide him, and whomever He sends astray, there is no other guide for him. I testify that nothing has any right to be worshipped except Allaah alone, having no partner, and I testify that Muhammad is His servant and Messenger-may the peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him, his family, companions and those who follow them in goodness until the Day of Judgment. To proceed:

Assalaam alaykum wa rahmatullaah wa barakatuuh.

Welcome to the month of Muharram, a month that enjoys the honor of being associated with the glorious name of Allaah:

“Verily, the number of months with Allaah is twelve months (in a year), so was it ordained by Allaah on the Day when He created the heavens and the earth; of them four are Sacred (i.e. the 1st, the 7th, the 11th and the 12th months of the Islamic calendar). That is the right religion, so wrong not yourselves therein” [al-Tawbah 9:36]

A month in which good deeds are enjoined:

“The best of fasts besides the month of Ramadhan is the fasting of Allah’s month of Muharram ………” (Narrated by Muslim, 1163)

It was narrated that Ibn ‘Abbaas (may Allaah be pleased with him) said: I never saw the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) so keen to make sure he fasted any day and preferring it over another except this day, the day of ‘Ashoora’, and this month – meaning Ramadaan. (al-Bukhaari, 1867)

And rewarded:

Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “…. and fasting the day of ‘Ashoora’ I hope Allaah will expiate thereby for the year that came before it.” (Narrated by Muslim, 1162)

Ali bin Abi Talhah narrated that Ibn `Abbas said “… Allaah then chose four out of these months and made them sacred, emphasizing their sanctity, making sinning in them greater, in addition to, multiplying rewards of righteous deeds during them. (Tafsir Ibn Kathir)

This month’s theme reflects the fact that this is indeed the month of Allaah. So along with the good deeds (specific to this month) that has been enjoyed upon us, I will be posting up all the Beautiful Names and Attributes of Allaah as they are mentioned in the Glorious Qur’an. Indeed scholars have extolled the virtues of knowing them as Shaykh ‘Abd al-Rahmaan ibn Sa’di (may Allaah have mercy on him) said: “Believing in and knowing the Most Beautiful Names of Allaah includes the three types of Tawheed. These three types of Tawheed form the essence and joy of faith, and this knowledge is the basis and purpose of faith. The more a person learns about the Names and Attributes of Allaah, the more his faith increases and the stronger his conviction becomes.” (Al-Tawdeeh wa’l-Bayaan li Shajarat al-Eemaan by al-Sa’di, p. 41 from http://www.islamqa.com/en/ref/4043/).

I ask Allaah by His most beautiful names to grant us knowledge of Him that makes us to have faith in Him, to love and fear Him, to put our hopes in Him, to trust in Him and to be sincere towards Him in our actions.

Indeed, all praise and thanks are due to Allaah. We praise Him; seek His help and His forgiveness. We seek protection from Him from the evils of our own souls and from our bad deeds. Whomever Allaah guides, no one can misguide him, and whomever He ends astray, there is no other guide for him. I testify that nothing has any right to be worshipped except Allaah alone, having no partner, and I testify that Muhammad is His servant and Messenger-may the peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him, his family, companions and those who follow them in goodness until the Day of Judgment. To proceed:

Assalaam alaykum wa rahmatullaah wa barakatuuh.

September has come to an end and all praise is due to Allaah who made us witness the new moon of Dhul-Qaddah. My blog count shows that I ended up with 22 posts last month out of a possible 30, Alhamdulillaah alaa kulli haal. Though there were days when I did read my daily portion but didn’t get to post anything up and also, one or two days when I didn’t find a suitable verse for my theme in the daily juz.

Also, looking back, I realise that I deviated frequently from my blog tagline of an aayah at a time, but MashaAllaah those aayaat were so beautiful I couldn’t resist putting them all in. InshaAllaah, this month I am going to strictly stick to one verse a day and so I’m choosing a theme that is just perfect for doing that. Can you guess?

Yep, I’m sure it wasn’t a difficult guess as this post title has already given it away. This month’s theme is going to be “O you who Believe”; that call that so often resonates throughout the Quran telling us that Our Lord, Exalted is He, wants us to pay particular attention to whats about to follow.

I remember, back then in the university, my friend, Fawziyyah had asked if I could mention seven verses from the Quran that started with “O you who believe”. Then, we had only just started attending Quran, Tajweed and Hifdh classes and poor me couldn’t answer the question.

So by the end of this month inshaAllaah, we all should be able to answer that question and if one day my friend Fawziyyah (May Allaah preserve her upon good) stumbles upon this blog, she’ll know that I finally got the answer to her timeless question!